AN: I want to start by thanking you guys again. Last chapter brought this story to over 700 reviews! That's awesome! I love that you guys are so comfortable with giving me feedback and reaching out to me. It really means a lot.
Chapter 40
Glynda had a feeling she would find James at the airship docks. He had been visibly stressed lately, and watching airships always helped him relax. At one point it was a trait of his that she thought was cute, until she realized that it was military airships that relaxed him now.
"Trouble sleeping?" she asked as she walked up to him. He turned his head and gripped his right shoulder.
"Arm was acting up," he said.
"Of, course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance," she said sarcastically. "You've never been very good at lying."
"At least not to you," he responded with a hint of a smile. She rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked. He sighed.
"I've trusted him for years. We both have. I just…I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark."
"Don't be ridiculous," she scolded. "You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark."
"That makes it worse!" he insisted. "I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so…passively."
"You're a good person, James," Glynda said, placing a hand on his shoulder. His left one. "You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable. But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it." She took her hand off his shoulder, and they both looked out at the ships. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering."
Yang was starting to get tired of pretending to sleep, but what Oobleck had asked her the night before was still bothering her.
"Blake, are you awake?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't the only one that couldn't sleep.
"Yeah," Blake answered.
"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"
"Maybe he was just curious," Blake offered.
"You think?" Yang asked skeptically.
"No."
"Weiss, are you awake?" Yang asked.
"Of course I'm awake! You two are talking!" Weiss snapped, making Yang flinch. Whoops. "And I think he…When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a…moral gray area."
"That's putting it lightly," Blake commented.
"Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."
"All my life, I fought for what I thought was right," Blake said. "I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to not be perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I—How can I undo so many years of hate?"
"I'm sure you'd figure it out," Yang said. "You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."
"But I am!" Blake said. "I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized the man I thought I loved was a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!"
"Hold on, hold on," Yang said. "You loved this Adam guy?"
"…Yes," she said.
"…And were you…" Weiss said, "…You know…together?"
"…Yes," Blake said again.
"And he was your mentor?" Yang asked. Blake said nothing. "Do you need to talk about it?"
"I'd rather not right now," Blake said. "The less I think about him, the better."
"Well, we're here for you when you're ready," Weiss said.
"Thanks. What about you, Yang?" Blake asked, clearly trying to change the subject. Since it was making her so uncomfortable, she decided to indulge her.
"I know I said being a Huntress was all for Ruby's sake, but I think there's more to it than that," she said. "I've always decided that I needed Huntress training to help Ruby because she needed my support, but I started to realize that Ruby might not need my help. Honestly, I think I want to go with Ruby less for her sake, and just so I'm not left alone. If she and Mom go off to save the world without me, I'll be alone."
"Ruby wouldn't let that happen," Weiss said. "And neither would the professor. You're family and they love you too much to leave you behind."
"But if I'm not strong enough, I'll just slow them down. It's been just us for a couple years after we moved out of our dad's house and Ruby withdrew from Signal."
"Why did she withdraw?" Blake asked. "We were never told that story." Yang sighed deeply.
"It was her first year," she said. "She was out with her class on a field trip, when a pretty large group of Heartless attacked. Mom wasn't with her, and the other students were in danger, so Ruby made the decision to stop holding back against them. We told you why it's important for her to hold back around other people, and she learned why the hard way. She let loose, stopped the Heartless, and saved everyone, but they didn't thank her for it. They spit on her, called her a freak. We couldn't let it continue, so after she finished up her first year, Mom had her pulled out of school and trained her personally again, like when we were kids. Uncle Qrow was a teacher at Signal at the time, and even helped her put together a curriculum for her to be home-schooled.
"I had a lot of friends at Signal at the time, but after what happened, I just couldn't bear to look at them. So many people I thought of as my friends talked shit about Ruby behind my back, so I'd had enough. I pretty much stopped talking to them, and devoted all my time to Ruby. Those assholes at Signal made her life hell, and I wasn't going to let her be lonely at home, too. Fuck that."
"…You're a really good sister," Weiss said, almost sadly.
"I just want us to stay together, and me becoming a Huntress is the best way to make sure of that, especially since she's here with me. She's always wanted to do this. She was so ecstatic when she got her Keyblade, cuz then she could be just like the heroes from the stories we used to read to her."
"I think that's the point," Blake said. "Whatever we want has to come second. The priority has to be protecting the people."
The sound of Zwei standing up woke up Ruby in the early hours of the morning.
"Huh?" Ruby asked. "Zwei, it's late. Go back to bed." He suddenly ran off, prompting Ruby to get up to chase after him. She made it out into the street, trying her best to call out Zwei's name quietly. She spotted him with his leg lifted next to a small ruined building. She groaned. "Zwei, this is a wasteland. You literally could have done that anywhere." The little dog barked.
"What was that?" a voice asked. Ruby ducked behind a corner and peeked her head out. She spotted two White Fang members.
"What was what?" the other one asked.
"I thought I heard a Beowolf or something."
"Hmph. Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base." They walked away, Ruby and Zwei following behind them. Ruby was ducked around a corner, but eventually stopped being able to hear them. She picked Zwei up and held him around the corner.
"Did they go in yet?" she asked the dog. "One bark means yes." She heard what sounded like a large metal door slamming shut, and then Zwei barked. She peeked around the corner and saw the door that she had heard.
"Oh! This is it!" She said happily, pulling out her scroll to call the team. Unfortunately, the device said low signal, so the call didn't go through. "Aw, man! Come on, we have to get the others!" They turned around to go back the way they came, but then the ground beneath them suddenly collapsed. She caught herself on the ledge with one hand, and caught Zwei in the other. She tossed him back up to solid ground, and tried to pull herself back up, to, but then the piece of concrete she was holding on to broke off, sending her plummeting into the abyss below her.
She hit the ground a few seconds later, revealing that she was now standing in a giant cave. What was weird about this cave, though, was that she could see more ruined buildings, almost as if an entire second city was built underground.
Actually, that's exactly what it was.
Cool.
A door suddenly opened behind her, and she turned around to see two White Fang soldiers. They immediately pointed their weapons at her.
"Freeze!"
"Where did she come from?" She took a step back, only to realize that she was backed up against the ledge.
"You're a long way from home, little girl," one of the grunts said, reaching for her.
She smirked, summoning Crescent Rose and attacking the grunt. He went down easily, and she turned her attention to the other one.
It was too easy. Seriously, where were the White Fang finding these guys? She sent her Keyblade away, and deciding there was nothing better to do, started moving towards the underground city.
Yang's lookout shift was finally over, so she walked back into the room where the team made camp.
"Hey, Weiss, it's your…"she said, only to realize that her sister's bedroll was missing. "Ruby? Hey, where's Ruby?"
"What?" Oobleck asked, walking into the room. Zwei walked in right after him, barking up a storm.
"Zwei?" Yang asked.
"What's going on?" Blake asked, sitting up from her bedroll.
"Grab your weapons!" Oobleck said. "Your leader may be in trouble."
Ruby had come across a train yard in the underground city, ducking between train cars using her Semblance. The place was crawling with White Fang soldiers, carrying boxes of Dust, and assembling what looked like bombs, and loading them onto the train cars.
Well, now she knew where all that stolen Dust went. But what was it all for? She could even see a few more of those giant mechs lying around.
She looked around a corner, and saw a familiar face. It was that brown-and-pink-haired girl from the CCT. So she was working with Torchwick! She needed to get a closer look at what was going on, and—
Wait, where did that girl go?
An arm suddenly wrapped around her neck, blocking off her air. She thrashed around, but the person's grip was too strong.
After a few seconds, everything went black.
The rest of the team, plus Oobleck, followed Zwei out of the building to look for their wayward leader. Zwei ran up to a giant hole in the ground, and barked frantically at it.
"Oh, no," Blake said.
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked.
"Fell?" Oobleck asked.
"Down there," Weiss clarified, pointing at the hole.
"Oh my. Of course! Of course, OF COURSE, OF COURSE!"
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"How could I be so stupid?!"
"What's wrong?" Yang asked.
"Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
"Doc, what are you saying?" Yang asked. They so did not have time for this!
"My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!"
"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked.
"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory to the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!"
"An underground village?" Yang asked.
"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until…an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb. If Ruby is down there…" he pulled out a large thermos, and expanded it, turning it into a long club. "We must find her."
When Ruby opened her eyes, she realized that she was lying on the floor, surrounded by White Fang grunts and the girl from earlier. She shouted in surprise, but her mouth seemed to be taped shut. She tried to stand up, but realized that her hands were tied behind her back, and her ankles were tied together. She settled for sitting on her knees so she at least wasn't lying down.
To sum things up, she was in an underground cave, tied up, surrounded by terrorists who likely wanted her dead just because she was human, and her team had no idea where she was.
Basically, her situation was not good.
The girl with the multi-colored hair snapped her fingers to one of the grunts, who stepped out of the group and walked towards an open train car.
"Boss!" he shouted. "She's awake!"
"Thank you, Perry," a familiar voice said, and Roman Torchwick stepped out of the train car to look down at Ruby.
"Well, hello, Red," he said. "Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked in a mocking tone, pretending to be a disappointed parent. She looked around her for a second to try and see of there was anything she could use, but he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Uh uh uh," he said. "Eyes on me, Red." He ripped the tape off her mouth, making her yelp in pain.
"Torchwick," she said. "What's going on?"
"That's not how this works," he said. "You're the prisoner, you answer the questions.
"And I have oh so many questions for you."
AN: Boy, Glynda's description of Ironwood was scarily accurate.
So, the Mountain Glenn mission is going wrong again, and Ruby is somehow in even more trouble than she was in canon.
I also finally revealed what happened at Signal that I've been alluding to for so long.
So, we have a rescue mission next time, the finale of Volume 2, then we'll be doing Team JNPR's mission with Aqua. After that, I've got a little story arc planned to bridge Volumes 2 and 3, and it's off to Volume 3 after that!
As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next time!